Had fought with Arpita Tiwari hrs before death: Pankaj Jadhav

Mumbai: Pankaj Jadhav (30), the prime suspect in the murder of girlfriend-anchor Arpita Tiwari, has revealed during police interrogation that the couple had a fight, hours before Tiwari’s death. Jadhav also said that they were on the verge of a “break-up” but he held on to the relationship. The Malvani police is now putting together missing pieces in the case, where Tiwari was mysteriously found dead in the second floor duct of a Malvani high-rise on December 11.

Police sources said that Jadhav and his friend Amit Kumar were detained on the day Tiwari’s body was discovered in the second floor duct of Malvani’s Manavsthal building. During initial questioning, the police recorded Kumar’s statement where he said that hours before Tiwari’s body was found, he saw Jadhav and Tiwari caught up in a fight. However, Jadhav rubbished Kumar’s claims. Two weeks later though, during another round of questioning, Jadhav admitted to having a fight with Tiwari, the reason for which he said was that he wanted to hold on to the relationship which Tiwari wanted to end.

An officer told this newspaper on condition of anonymity that the new statement recorded by Jadhav sheds new light on the case, which also gives him a motive to kill Tiwari.

Deepak Phatangare, senior police inspector, Malvani police station, said, “We are still investigating the case, and the culprit is yet to be arrested.”

Anchor-cum-compere Tiwari was found dead in the second floor duct of the 18-storey high-rise in Malvani Monday morning.  No suicide note was recovered from the spot. The police has detained two men, including Tiwari’s boyfriend, on grounds that when questioned earlier, the duo’s statements had discrepancies which made the police suspicious enough to detain them.